Variable frequency modulation scheme based on current-sensing techniques for switched-capacitor DC-DC converters
First Claim
1. An apparatus for converting an input voltage at an input to an output voltage at an output, the apparatus comprising:
- a capacitor, wherein the capacitor is configured such that a charging and discharging of the capacitor transfers energy from the input to the output;
switches configured to control the charging and discharging of the capacitor;
a controller that controls a switching frequency of the switches based on a current associated with the transfer of energy from the input to the output; and
a lookup table coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to set the switching frequency based on the current using one or more entries in the lookup table,wherein the lookup table stores a plurality of different switching frequency values for a same given current value, and wherein the controller is configured to select a certain at least one of the plurality of different switching frequency values based on the current, and wherein the plurality of different switching frequency values for the same given current value correspond to a plurality of different performance metric values associated with the transfer of energy from the input to the output.
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Abstract
The present embodiments are directed to an improved switched capacitor (SC) converter topology that does not include an inductor. In particular, the topology includes a ladder SC circuit configured as a cap divider, with a gate driving signal being generated to initiate the charging and discharging of the capacitor. In this specific topology, an unregulated output voltage is produced that is a certain fraction of an input voltage of a power source such as a battery. The present embodiments further include a variable frequency modulation (VFM) scheme based on the current-sensing techniques for the gate driving signal generation of the switched capacitor converter.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for converting an input voltage at an input to an output voltage at an output, the apparatus comprising:
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a capacitor, wherein the capacitor is configured such that a charging and discharging of the capacitor transfers energy from the input to the output; switches configured to control the charging and discharging of the capacitor; a controller that controls a switching frequency of the switches based on a current associated with the transfer of energy from the input to the output; and a lookup table coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to set the switching frequency based on the current using one or more entries in the lookup table, wherein the lookup table stores a plurality of different switching frequency values for a same given current value, and wherein the controller is configured to select a certain at least one of the plurality of different switching frequency values based on the current, and wherein the plurality of different switching frequency values for the same given current value correspond to a plurality of different performance metric values associated with the transfer of energy from the input to the output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18)
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11. A method for converting an input voltage at an input to an output voltage at an output, the method comprising:
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charging and discharging a capacitor so as to transfer energy from the input to the output; operating switches to control the charging and discharging of the capacitor; controlling, by a controller, a switching frequency of the switches based on a current associated with the transfer of energy from the input to the output; and setting, by the controller, the switching frequency based on the current using one or more entries in a lookup table, wherein the lookup table stores a plurality of different switching frequency values for a same given current value, the method further comprising selecting a certain at least one of the plurality of different switching frequency values based on the current, and wherein the plurality of different switching frequency values for the same given current value correspond to a plurality of different performance metric values associated with the transfer of energy from the input to the output. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20)
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Specification